If you haven't watched the fifth episode of Outlander's fourth season, proceed with caution. Spoilers ahead!

Claire is the love of Jamie Fraser’s life, but the bond he shares with his godfather Murtagh Fraser may be almost as fundamental to who Jamie is. Murtagh was his companion and protector in Scotland and France—he helped nurse Jamie through his trauma at the hands of Captain Jack Randall and he was with him at the battle of Culloden, where both men thought they would die. So when Murtagh shows up unexpectedly in the fifth episode ofseason four, his reveal—and their reunion—is almost as big a deal as the print shop episode of Season 3. (Hey, I said almost.)

Murtagh, played by English actor Duncan Lacroix, is working as a blacksmith in Willem’s Creek, the town where Jamie and young Ian have ventured unsuccessfully to recruit settlers for Fraser’s Ridge.

Jamie and young Ian in the blacksmith's shop in Willem's Creek.

Aimee Spinks/Courtesy of Starz

He and Jamie haven’t seen each other in years, since Murtagh was shipped off from Ardsmuir Prison to serve as an indentured servant in the American colonies. He is now free, though Jamie quickly discovers that he is a regulator, fomenting rebellion against the English military forces with which Jamie has forged a fragile alliance.

Murtagh’s appearance is a big deal for another reason as well: It’s a significant break from the books. His character dies at Culloden in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. T&C spoke to Lacroix (pictured at the top of this post in an earlier season) about this break from the books, playing a revolutionary, and how he got back into character.

What did you think about bringing back Murtagh in season four, even though he’s long dead in the books?

Well obviously it’s a gamble by the writers and the show runners. They obviously felt that the character was important enough to that family unit to survive. I’m a bit worried to see some of the reactions—it’s going to be interesting. But by the same token it’s not my job to worry about the differences between the book and the show. My job is to act what’s in the script.

You filmed this season in Scotland, but it takes place in North Carolina. Was it hard to keep in mind that you were supposed to be in America?

You’re basically working in exactly the same fields and the same locations, and it’s Scotland, but you just put that out of your mind. You’re already imagining that you’re back in the 18th century anyways—that’s the bigger leap. And the set we have, Fraser’s Ridge, is fantastic. What Jon Gary Steel built was incredible—it’s not a hard leap for the imagination.

Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe in front of the area that will become Fraser's Ridge in season 4 of Outlander.

Courtesy of Starz

I’m always amazed every season by what Jon makes, he’s just a genius. In season two he built an entire three story Paris apartment in a studio. Upholstery, little cubby holes, things you wouldn’t see on camera. And for this season he built this smithy, which was very elaborate, and then you walked out into a whole town, Willem’s Creek. In between takes I would walk up and down the streets pretending I was a cowboy. I was a five years old again, getting into gun fights with the sound engineer.

Did you look to the books for inspiration for earlier seasons?

I read the first two books. But my character started to diverge from book Murtagh right from the beginning. The physical description is different. The books are great source material for the relationship and the history of the show, but the scripts are my core text.

How much did you know about the Scottish settlers’ involvement in the years leading up to the American Revolution?

I kind of knew. I had a rough sketchy knowledge of the build up of the War of Independence. But I learned a lot more about the Scottish indentured servants and the Scottish and German settlers and regulators in the colonies. How that kind of civil unrest started bubbling up, how it lead to the War of Independence.

Lacroix as Murtagh in an earlier season of Outlander.

Courtesy of Starz

Did you do any research to get ready for this season?

I read a few historical essays about the regulators in that period. And I did a bit of blacksmith training. I made my own knife. It looks like a lump of blackened charcoal but I’m very pleased with it.

Jamie is very cautious of the regulators but it’s not hard to imagine that someone like Murtagh would join a group resisting British rule.

Not at all. Murtagh’s over there in America and everything that was important to him that was taken away. He’s been an indentured servant for 12 years, had no freedom. Jamie was taken away from him, Scotland was taken from him. It wouldn’t take much tinder to get that fire started.

What was it like being reunited with Sam Heughan onscreen?

The whole season we worked a bit more sporadically with each other. This season has more story strands and points of view and separate pieces. I got to work with new people, like John Bell and Sophie Skelton, which was great. But it’s great working with Sam, that shared chemistry we’ve built up over five years now, that’s just there. Our characters have a bit of a rough go. There’s a whole lot of tension that builds up between them over the course of the season. But of course Jamie and Murtagh are the other great love story of the show.

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